Biden Announces Stunning Number of Pardons After Hunter Uproar

President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted 1,500 sentences and granted 39 pardons, the largest single-day clemency act in history.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” a White House statement from Biden read. “That is why, today, I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer. I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences—many of whom would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices. These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance.”

Biden pardoned people who were in prison for nonviolent crimes like marijuana possession or violating the military’s antiquated laws banning gay sex. A commutation allows the verdict to remain while lessening punishment, while a pardon completely nullifies a conviction.

This comes just days after Biden’s controversial pardon of his son Hunter Biden for federal tax and gun convictions. The president pardoned his embattled son after saying again and again that he would never do such a thing. While criticized for hypocrisy and dishonesty, many also pointed out that there were many potentially more deserving people who could use a pardon.

Thursday’s pardons have already been met with calls for more pardons, including for people like Native American activist Leonard Peltier, environmental lawyer Steven Dozinger, and the 40 people still on federal death row. Biden noted that he will continue to consider clemency petitions as the week goes on.

The U.S. Justice Department sent a message Wednesday to those hoping for a pardon over their participation in the deadly riot on January 6, 2021: They will have to admit their guilt to receive one.

Prosecutors filed a motion responding to a request from the attorney for one rioter, Dova Winegeart, which would have delayed her judgment and report date in the hopes of receiving a presidential pardon when Donald Trump is sworn in next month. The 51-year-old woman was sentenced Monday to four months in prison for violently swinging a pole outside the U.S. Capitol as it was being ransacked by MAGA fanatics nearly four years ago.  

Prosecutors opposed Winegeart’s motion and issued their own warning to any rioters hoping Trump might save them from jail time, according to Politico. 

“The defendant hopes to avoid that harm by receiving a presidential pardon from a future executive. But the defendant’s personal motivation to avoid public disclosure of her judgment of conviction is no reason to delay entry of judgment and deviate from the regular order of criminal procedure,” the motion stated. 

“And, even if the defendant were to receive a pardon at some unspecified date in the future—which is purely speculative at this juncture—that pardon would not unring the bell of conviction,” the prosecutors wrote. “In fact, quite the opposite. The defendant would first have to accept the pardon, which necessitates a confession of guilt.”

Prosecutors wrote that a pardon would not undo the fact of the crime, only prevent punishment for that crime. If anything, a pardon would be to admit to the crime. 

Trump has long promised to pardon the nearly 1,600 people facing charges over their involvement in the riot. Many have attempted to have their judgments delayed until after Trump takes office. 

Prosecutors took sharp issue with the suggestion that they obey in advance of Trump’s orders. 

“The criminal justice system cannot operate on such uncertainty. Indeed, it is neither the court’s role or function to speculate about any president’s pardon decisions, nor is it appropriate for the Court to halt the normal functioning of criminal procedure based solely on that speculation,” the prosecutors wrote. 

“If a future Executive cannot, today, grant a pardon, this Court cannot expand the temporal grace that Executive may or may not extend in the future to … affect the present,” they added.

The Trump Organization on Wednesday announced a new project in Saudi Arabia: Trump Tower Jeddah.

Eric Trump announced the move in a post on X, writing, “Incredibly proud to officially launch a project that has been underway for many months, Trump Tower - Jeddah!” He thanked the project’s partner, Dar Global, a real estate developer headquartered in Dubai but under the umbrella of Dar Al Arkan, the largest developer in Saudi Arabia.

Trump added that the tower will be the company’s fifth project with Dar Global. The two companies have spent about $532 million on this residential apartment site, which is expected to be completed in four years. The Trump Organization relies a lot on Saudi Arabia, as the company’s real estate deals in the United States have fallen off since Donald Trump’s first presidential term ended amid a backlash over the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots.

The tower is a long-stalled project for the Trumps, as they had planned to build one of their signature towers in the Middle East before Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. After that, the Trump family pledged not to sign new international deals while he was president. But now, after being elected a second time, the elder Trump doesn’t seem to care about the appearance of a conflict of interest, raising questions of corruption.

The president-elect has a long business relationship with Saudi Arabia and claimed in a deposition that he could sell his properties to buyers in the country for any amount he wants. Trump has hosted Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournaments at his clubs, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s investment fund accepted $2 billion from Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund but has yet to turn a profit itself.

Kushner and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have spoken several times in the last four years, continuing a close relationship that began when Kushner advised his father-in-law on the Middle East during Trump’s first term.

At the moment, Kushner has not accepted a formal job in Trump’s new administration, but his business interests still don’t look good for the president-elect. Coupled with the Trump Organization’s Saudi deals, it seems that Trump isn’t worried about being accused of corruption, or being beholden to a foreign state.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a staunch critic of the U.S. health care system, offered a blunt assessment of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s assassination and the discourse that followed.

“The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the health care system,” Senator Warren said in an interview with HuffPost Tuesday. “Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far.

“This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change,” Warren continued. “[They] lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone.”

Luigi Mangione, 26, from Baltimore County, Maryland, was apprehended at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday for Thompson’s murder. Mangione’s motives seem motivated by personal trauma, as he suffered a significant back injury that he sought serious relief for. After his arrest, police reportedly found a notebook explaining Mangione’s rationale for the shooting, including a manifesto citing the exorbitant costs of health care in the United States.

Warren’s comments immediately drew criticism from some Democrats and Republicans, forcing her to clarify.

“Violence is never the answer. Period,” Warren told HuffPost. “I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.”

Senator Bernie Sanders, who also initially spoke with the publication, echoed Warren.

“I think what the outpouring of anger at the health care industry tells us is that millions of people understand that health care is a human right and that you cannot have people in the insurance industry rejecting needed health care for people while they make billions of dollars in profit,” he said.

Congress members might soon come face-to-face with one of their attackers.

Republican members of Congress have invited Russell Taylor, a January 6 protester who stormed the Capitol with a tactical vest and a knife strapped to his chest, to attend Trump’s second inauguration, Politico reported Wednesday.

Taylor pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months’ home detention and three years’ probation in May for his role in ransacking the building. Ahead of the riot, Taylor organized a group of “fighters” to attend pro-Trump events, planning for chaos. Some of Taylor’s “fighters” included individuals who identified as Three Percenters, or people who subscribe to the Three Percent ideology, which the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as an “antigovernment militia movement.”

At the time of Taylor’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said that he believed Taylor had testified truthfully and expressed sincere remorse, noting that the Californian could become a “poster child” for how January 6 cases “should be done.”

Chris Stewart, a former Republican representative from Utah, also asked that Taylor be allowed to attend the ceremony. “He is [a] caring father and reveres his family, his faith, and his love of our Country as his highest priority in life,” Stewart wrote in a letter to Lamberth. “I am honored to extend this invitation for him to attend the Inauguration as my guest.”

Stewart’s letter did not refer to Taylor’s actions on January 6 or their effect in delaying the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. It did, however, make mention of three other Utah lawmakers who are requesting Taylor’s presence at Trump’s inauguration, but did not specify which ones.